Elastic-fluid turbine.



R. H. RICE.

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED IuIIE I2. Isls.

1,298,564. Patented MaI'. 25,1919.

|hventor`: R i'chard I-LRce,

His Nttorneg.

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y En STATES Ramarri. v ori-ion or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASsIGNon To. cENEnALnLEcTmNocoNrANY, A conroaATroN or NEW Yonx.

ELASTIC-FLUID TURBINE.

To all lwhom t may concer/n.:

Be it knownl that' L'RrcHARD H. RICE, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic-Fluid Turbines, of which the following is a specification.`

The present invention' relates to elastic iuid turbines, and particularly to nozzle 'diaphraggms for such machines.

The olject 'of the invention is to provide an improved nozzle diaphragm which is simple and cheap to construct, and which is' light in weight,`but at the same time strong and rugged.

For a conslderation 'of what I believe tok be novel and myy invention, attention is div rected to the acccompanying description and the claims appended thereto. y

In the drawing Fi re 1 is a side elevation of a nozzle diap ragni embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a radial sectional view of a portion of a turbine, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portionl of the diaphragm. l

As is well understood 4nozzle dia hragms are used' in connection with elastic uid turbines to divide the casing-into stages and in Fig. 2, 5 indicates the shaft of an elastic -iiuid turbine upon which are mounted wheels 6, carrying bucket rings 7 at their peripheries. 8 indicates a turbine casing, and. located in the casing between the wheels are diaphragms 9 which 'engage the casing at their peripheries and are provided adjacent the shaft with suitable packinv -means 10V which serves to prevent leakage etween the shaft and thel diaphragme.` In Fig. 2 of the drawing only one diaphragm and the. adjacent wheels are shown, but it will of course be understood that this is only a portion'of a turbine and that in (genera a number of dia hragms are utilize eferring now particularly to the diaphragm structure, it comprises two inner disks or lates 11 and 12 which "form the web portion of the diaphra The disks or plates lifand 12 are space apart at their central portion by spacing blocks 13 through which pass fastening rivets 14: and they have inturned flanges 15 which serve to support the packing means 10.

`5&5 and 12 are provided with flanges 16 and 17 Specification of Letters Patent. i

,provided with heads 21 having undercut l respectively in which are spaced complemen- Y tary notches 18 and 19. The nozzle partitions comprise suitably shaped curved brackets 2O sides and 'bases 22 connected to the buckets 20 by Shanks 23. The Shanks 23 are located in notches 18 and 19, and the bases 22 project under flanges 16 and 17. v This serves to 4s ace the inner ends of the nozzle parti' tions apart and to firmly anchor them tothe peripheries of the disks 11 and 12. Disks 11 the other end with rounded portions 2.7v -I which-conform tothe curvature of the faces of buckets 20. The heads 21 are held by an o uter ring comprising two annular members 28 and 29 provided with undercut grooves 30 and 31 respectively, which together form an undercut slot to receive heads 21, and they are fastened together by rivets 32. The spacing strips 25 are comparatively thin and are of less width than the buckets 20 while theouter ring comprising members 28 and 29 isof'substantially the same widthv as the buckets. In their inner faces the members 28 and 29 are provided with grooves 33 in which the spacing strips 25 are located. By this means the spacing strips 25 are firmly held in place between buckets 20 and members 28 and 29 asf is obvious. The bottoms of the'diaphragm passages are formed by the outer Surfaces of anges 16 and 17 and the tops of such passages are formed by the spacing strips 25 and the adjacent portion of members 28 and 29.v The grooves 33 are suiiiciently deep so' that the surfaces of strips 25 and members 28 and 29 are iushso as to present a smooth surface for the passage of elastic fluid.

In the present instance'the annular rinar 100 Stood however that a separate spacing ring 105( may be used instead of the integral ange Shown, if found desirable; or other suitable arrangement'may be used.

With the above described diaphragm structure, it will be seen that a number of 110 Patented Mar. 25, 1919.y

Application led June 12, 1918. Serial No. 239,640.

ed A

so v

' partsl can be stamped from-sheet material and that al1 the surfaces requiring finishing can be `finished prior to assembling. This l latter is of particular importance in connection with the nozzle passages for after the diaphragm is assembled they are difficult to get at andhence the labor cost insuchcases is high. Also the-diaphragm can be readily assembled by ordinary labor, the assembling being principally riveting operations. Furthermore, the diaphragm -is comparatively thin which results in a less over all len h of the machine while at the same time owln to "its box-like structure it is very sti an ri id. fgIhe diaphragm is shown in Fig. 1 as being formed in halves,- being. split' in a hori-V zontal plane asvindicated at 36. This is a customary arrangement to facilitate'assembling. The edges of the two diaphragm halves are reinforced 'and held in spaced relation by blocks 37 to which thedisks 11 and '12 are fastened by rivets 38.

for the outer ends of said partitions, and `means for holding said spacing strips in po- 40 -l In accordance with the provisions of th p atent statutes, I have described the princlple of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,-but I desireto have it understood that the appa- 30'- ratus lshown is only illustrative andthat the invention can be carried out by other means. VWhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

=1. A diaphragm for elastic Huid turbines comprising two Vannular disks, nozzle partitions having their inner ends held between the peripheries of said disks, spacing strips sition. I f

2. A dlaphragm for, elastic fluid turbines v comprising two annular disks having infastened together for ho turned peripheral flanges, nozzle 'partitions having their inner ends held by said flanges, and a ring comprising two annular members lding the outer ends of said nozzle partitions. i

3. A diaphragm for elastic fluid turbines comprising two annulardisks having inturned flanges at their central portions and -heads on their outer ends,

support the heads, and a holdin acking means supy port the other ends of the nozzle partitions and hold the spacing strips in osition.

4. A diaphragm for elastic uidturbines, comprising two annular disks, nozzle partitions having their inner ends held'between v the peripheries of said'disfks, the outer ends cf said partitions being provided with projecting heads, spacing stripsof less width than said partitions which are supported on them between the heads, and a holdingrin which embraces said heads' and strips and serves to hold the strips in position andto outer ends of the nozzle part1t1on`s. 5. A diaphragm for elastic fluid turbines comprising two annular disks, nozzle partitions having their innerl ends held between vthe peripheries of said disks, the outer ends ofsaid partitions being provided with proj ecting heads having undercut sides, spacing strips of less width than said partitions i which are supported on them between the heads, and a holdingringcomprising two annular members which embrace between them the heads and spacing strips. 6. A diaphragm for elastic fluid turbines,

comprising two annular disks, nozzle partitions having their inner -ends held between the peripheries of said disks, the outer ends f of said vpartitions being provided with 'projecting heads having undercut sides, spacing strips of less width than said 4partitions which are supported on them between the ring comprising two annular members w ichembrace between them the heads and spacing strips, said members being formed with grooves which receive the spacing stri s.

-In witness whereof, have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of June, 1918.

RICHARD H. RICE. 

